Finnish favour for gluten-free line

10 December, 2008

The Village Bakery (Coedpoeth), based near Wrexham, has discovered its gluten-free bread range is proving popular in Finland. Increased demand for the bread has meant the bakery will be adding a second shift to its schedule and looks set to increase its number of staff by 10, to 30.

The Scandinavian ‘Toasty’ range, which is produced at the newly opened North Wales factory, has recently been voted the number one new product in 2008, by the Finnish Coeliac Association. The firm also revealed it has had interest from as far afield as Australia.The gluten-free range is sold under the Juvela brand in the UK and under the Semper brand in Scandinavia.“We are very proud of what we have achieved with the gluten-free range and we’re naturally delighted that is has been so well-received,” said Robin Jones, joint managing director. “The gluten-free market is growing at a fantastic rate, which bodes well for the future.”
The new £3m bakery was opened back in October and is the result of a five-year agreement with baby-food company, Hero AG, based in Switzerland.